670 Magas Babes, Asahi are BASA champs

The 670 Magas Babes and Asahi are this year’s champions in the 2025 Budweiser Belau Amateur Softball Association women’s and masters league.

The Babes seized the tiara in the women’s division with a sweep of the Batties in two straight games in the best-of-3 format. In the first game, they won, 10-3, and in the second, they clinched the title with a commanding 24-2 final.

Janice Celis was on fire in the circle, retiring batters left and right almost the entire first game—allowing just three runs on three hits. But before she locked in, she hit a rough patch, walking three straight batters in the top of the first. Those free passes turned into the only runs the Batties would get, as Celis quickly regrouped and shut them down the rest of the way.

On the other side, the Babes’ bats matched their pitcher’s heat. In game one, the top of the lineup—Amy Cabrera, Kiana Camacho, Rachel Salalila, and Cat Dela Cruz—got things rolling with back-to-back runs in the first inning. From there, the Babes piled on six more while holding the Batties scoreless.

Game two was more of the same: lights-out pitching and a hot-hitting spree. The Babes scored in every inning except the last two, with a huge six-run first inning followed by an eight-run explosion in the second.

When it came time for awards, Babes’ ace Janice Celis earned playoff MVP honors for silencing the Batties’ bats. Rachel Salalila claimed both regular season MVP and batting champ, going 24-for-37 with a blistering .649 average.

The runs scored champ was Virly Secharmidal with 21 runs; the doubles champ went to Cat Dela Cruz and Miyah Duenas with six each; home run champs were Amy Cabrera, Carey Demapan, Emy Oiterong, and Secharmidal with two each; RBI champs were Demapan and Dela Cruz with 23 each; earned run average champ was Celis with a 2.25 ERA; and strikeout champ was Ofing Shoking with 70.

Co-captain Erlinda Naputi said that she dedicated their win to her brother Frank, from Guam, who sponsored the team and named it after a team from Guam. “This is a very sentimental game for us… we dedicate this win to him, he passed away in February this year so, this is for him.”

As for their team that consists of mother-daughter duos and couples, Naputi said, “We have a great team. The Babes are composed of many talented players. Three of our players are from the NMI national team and the rest of the players are just talented.”

Some members of their team, along with players from the second place team Batties, have merged to compete in the 20th Annual CNMI Labor Day Softball Tournament in Tacoma, Washington. They flew along with Marianas Press’ Thomas Manglona and Leigh Gases and arrived on Wednesday. Notably, their team is the first women’s team based in Saipan that competed in the annual CNMI Labor Day Softball Tournament last year in Las Vegas, Nevada, in which they placed second.

Team captain Pauline Camacho, for her part, said, “We would like to thank our coaches and our manager and assistant coaches—manager Mar Naputi, assistant coaches Paul Salalila, Bill Camacho, Adam Salalila, and Angel Demapan.”

In the men’s masters division, defending champs Asahi clobbered Tokahao in two straight games as well. In the first game, they won, 30-11 and in the second game, they beat them in another blowout, 24-4 final.

The playoff MVP was Taylor Germance while the regular season MVP and batting champ was Paython Rdiall who went 49 for 69 with an average of .710. The doubles champion was John Terlaje at 13; the triples champ was John Taitano with five; the home run champ went to Rdiall with 51; the earned run average champ was Jerry Guerrero with 6.08; and the strike out champ was Leo Bobai with 40.

McQueen Masaharu, coach for Asahi and the vice president for the league, said of their back-to-back championships, “we feel great. Everybody played hard—coaches, managers—we played hard. We got the championships and congrats to my teammates. This is the same team as last season but a couple of new recruits but we played great this year.”

As for the consistent softball league throughout the year, he said, “For myself as the vice president of the Belau Softball Association, we want to support the community. Our goal is to support the community with good health. This year’s turning out great—same as last year. We are done with the women’s and masters, now we’re moving on to the open which will start on Sept. 7.”

The 2025 Budweiser Belau Amateur Softball League sponsors were Marpac, the Saipan Mayor’s Office, Dandan Middle School, Rep. Elias Rangamar, Rep. Roman Benavente, Rep. Joe Flores, Rep. Denita Yangetemai, House Floor Leader Marissa Flores, Vice Speaker Vince Camacho, D&Q, Hagu Real, Lucky De Market, and Department of Lands and Natural Resources Division of Parks and Recreation.